Williamn.

Etymology: < the male forename William < Anglo-Norman Williame , Willame (compare Old French, Middle French, French Guillaume ) < Old High German Willehelm , Willehalm (German Wilhelm ; apparently cognate with Middle Dutch, Dutch Willem ) < the Germanic base of will n.¹ + the Germanic base of helm n.¹Parallels in other languages. Some of the main forms of the name in other languages are: post-classical Latin Gulielmus , Vilhelmus , Willelmus , Gullelmus , Gullielmus , Villelmus , Occitan Guilhem , Catalan Guillem , Guim , Spanish Guillermo , Portuguese Willian , Guilherme , Italian Guglielmo , Norwegian Vilhelm , Swedish Vilhelm , Danish Vilhelm , Irish Uilliam , Liam , Welsh Gwilym , Russian Vil′gel′m , Uil′jam , Polish Wilhelm , Czech Vilém , Hungarian Vilmos . History in English. In English contexts, the name is first attested in Old English in the second half of the 11th cent., chiefly as Willelm , Wyllelm (also Wilhelm ), originally with reference to persons of Norman or French origin active in England, especially King William I, although by the late 11th cent. the name was already common and some bearers of the name may be of English descent. The earliest attested English name forms seem predominantly to reflect Latin forms of the name, but the form William is also attested from Old English onwards. Specific Senses. The reason for the application of the name in sense 1 is not clear. It has been suggested that it derives, via Willy , the pet form of the name (compare willy n.²), by folk etymology from French oeillet , used from the 15th cent. to denote the flower (see pink n.⁵); however, no evidence for a form willy in this sense has been found. The flower name is found earliest in the form sweet william (compare sweet-william n.): it has been suggested that sweet may be an alteration of saint (with reference to any of various saints, e.g. William of Rochester or William of York), but no evidence has been found for saint william denoting a flower. It has also been suggested that this form of the name may have been popularized by the ballad ‘Fair Margaret and Sweet William’, but this is not recorded before the 17th cent. In sense 2 after Dutch Willem (1839 or earlier) < Willem , the name of three kings of The Netherlands (Willem I (1815–40), Willem II (1840–9), Willem III (1890–1948)), during whose reigns the coins were minted; compare French Guillaume (1835 or earlier in this sense). In senses 3a, 3b reflecting a pun on bill n.³ and Bill, pet form of the male forename William (compare billy n.²).